Mom calls out anti-Asian bullying at school south of Montreal

About an hour outside of Montreal, the mother of a 14-year-old boy in Cowansville, Quebec, is suing Massey-Vanier High School and the East Township school board for allegedly misusing the bully against her daughter.

The mother and daughter, who asked to remain anonymous, held a press conference with the Center for Research and Action on Race Relations (CRARR) on Thursday to talk about the injustices the high school student faced.

“I fear for his mental health,” his mother said. “He has nightmares and there are obvious signs of hopelessness, stress, anxiety.”

It is believed that the young girl has been experiencing harassment from her peers at school since 2022. The reason they say that? His race.

“They said to him, 'What have you done with my dog?' Do you eat cats? (Among others) racist slurs,” the mother told the media at a press conference on Thursday.

A young girl was adopted from a young age and is the only Asian in her class.

“It's a predominantly white school. Children of color should be protected from such bullying because of their race and skin color,” said Fo Niemi, founder and executive director of CRARR.

The school board has an anti-bullying policy under Quebec law, but the young girl's parents and CRARR say the policy is not being properly enforced.

“I fear for his physical and psychological safety,” said his mother.

In an effort to ease the bullying, the school took steps to keep the 14-year-old girl away from bullies by forcing her to leave classes three minutes earlier and be left alone in a room. However, this did not stop the harassment, says the young girl.

“They want to put me in a room for loitering in the hallway,” he said. “Please don't take my friends away from me.”

The mother says that her daughter is under strict control by the school. As a result, he has no autonomy and is isolated from other students.

The young girl feels that she is being punished for the mistakes of others and feels “guilty” for “being a problem”.

“He's angry that he's being targeted for being a bully when bullies are free,” his mother said. “It's unhealthy and not conducive to learning.”

“They really need to create an anti-racism education program because it's about the long-term consequences of not doing anything about all the racial slurs and jokes and singling it out because of being Asian,” Niemi said.

CRARR helps parents file complaints against the Eastern Townships School Board with the Quebec Commission on Human Rights and Youth Rights.

CityNews has reached out to the Eastern Townships School Board and Massey-Vanier High School for comment, but has not yet heard back.